The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-12-24
BRITISH DUNGEONS.
How Ireland's Political Prisoners Arc
Treated by Tory Officials


Treated by Tory Officials
A reporter had an interesting in
terviow with recent arrival in the city
from the County Wexford, Ireland, who
has felt the Inconvenience of sleeping
on plank bed and living on prison
fare for using in the course Of u public
speech q quotation from Lord Byron
dramatic poem of "Cain.
1t will be something new to the gem
eral public to learn that the author Of
"Childe Harold and don Juan"
wrote treason against the English gov
eminent, though there can be little
doubt but such catholic lover of free
dom as 1.-THE noblest of all Gordons"
would, if alive to-day. be as warm p
sympathizer with the Irish people as
his granddaughter and her husband,
Sir Wilfrid Blunt. Lady Blunt is tho
daughter of Byron's only child. whom
he loved with passionate fondness
which he has immortalized in the OPEN
ing line of one of the cantos of "Childe
Harold"
The treatment Of John j. Heating.
the gentleman above referred to. is the
same us that accorded to all Irishmen
thrown into prison. The details of an
Irish patriots life in an English prison
in Ireland will be read with something
approaching to incredulity by the
American people.
II was arrested" said Mr.. Heating,
'for using language which was as
serted to be a violation of The seventh
section of the Grimes act of 1882. The
language for which was arrested and
incarcerated as n common criminal for
one month is simple quotation from
Byron referring to notorious land
grabber and cruel exterminator in tho
neighborhood OF Davidstown, the place
where | made the speech. l quoted
from Gain" the well-known curse:
May the grass wither from his feet.
The woods deny him shelter, the earth homo,
The sun its light and heayenits God.
"Of course l only used that quotation
in the peroration of my speech. l was
promptly arrested and tried at the petty
sessions ut Enniscorthy, place famed
in the rebellion of 1898. The magis-
trates who tried me were two crown
olieials-one r. r. Kennedy, the regu-
lar stipendiary of the place, and tho
other Captain Kcogh-who were i'm
ported from Dundalk, in the North of
Ireland, to assist at the mock trial.
Captain Keogn is a brother of the infa-
nous Judge of the same name who
committed suicide some years ago, and
has borne the title Of the Irish Jeffries.
II dare say you would like to hear
my treatment in the Wexford jail. For
the thirty-one days | was there l spent
twenty-five hours out of every twenty
four alone in my cell, which measured
fourteen feet by seven, and was lighted
by q small iron-barred window about q
foot square. 1 had " hard plank bed to
sleep upcI, with thin blanket to cover
me. For food | got eight ounces of
black bread and u pint Of water for
breakfast, half-pint Of vegetable soup
at dinner, and eight ounces of black
bread and another pint Of water for
supper. This was all l got the first
week, and was by way Of initiation into
the mystery of living without nourish-
ment. The second week, and during
the remainder of my work, my daily
allowance of bread was reduced to six
ounces in the morning and in the even
ing with halt-pint of coffee without
sugar or milk. During my entire stay
in Jail never got asingle atom of meat
or any thing else but what l have told
you. need scarcely add that l looked
like n ghost when l came out, but bad
as l was l was able to quote Byron
again and use stronger language than
he ever wrote against the English
tyranny in Ireland.
Il don't think l told You that during
the two hours | had freedom from my
cell each day l was engaged breaking
stone in Che prison yard. When in the
cell l had three pounds of oakum to
pick daily, so had plenty to do. Every
prisoner sent up for month gets ex-
actly the same treatment as | did, but
those whose terms are longer get Il littlo
more food. You can now imagine what
people get for telling the truth in Ire
land about the manner in which the
country is robbed by the landlords, and
crushed to the earth by English Of
ticials. San Francisco Examiner.
e--